In advanced civilizations the period loosely called Alexandrian is usually associated with flexible morals, perfunctory religion, populist standards and cosmopolitan tastes, feminism, exotic cults, and the rapid turnover of high and low fads—in short, a falling away (which is all that decadence means) from the strictness of traditional rules, embodied in character and inforced from within. — Jacques Barzun

That’s with a “T”, not an “L”

It seems like yesterday that the Obama campaign was mocking [disabled war hero victim of torture] Senator John McCain for not being able to use a keyboard. And it seems like just a few minutes ago, the first crisis the Secret Service had to handle was when BO dropped his Bubble-Busting Blackberry.

Well, all that too-cool-for-you cutting edge techno savvy networking is soooo 2009. The Øne has stepped into the WABAC machine and became my mother, who threatened, in all seriousness, to write me out of the will for suggesting that she might find a word processor useful. In the ’80’s. Here’s what Grumpy Gramps told the newly minted grads at Hampton University this weekend:

“You’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank all that high on the truth meter,” Obama said at Hampton University, Virginia.

“With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.”

I’m wondering if they booed the Geezer-in-Chief off the stage in time for him to beat the dinnertime rush at the Luby’s (4 p.m. and the place is a mad house.) By the way, even I know how to use an iPod- there are only 250,000,000 in circulation. And I didn’t realize that Xboxes and Playstations are offering “information” that becomes a form of entertainment.

I think he needs to find himself a teleprompter that is a little less in love with alliteration and condescension.